Southern Justice, Part 56

I’m Fixin’ To present part 56 of Southern Justice:

During the same time as Ray McKinley was blackmailing Roland James with very naughty pictures of him in the company of Shanna Martin of the Gentlemen’s Club, things were very hectic at Pic-Ric Products headquarters.

The reorganization was proving to be very difficult to implement in unison with keeping up with the normal everyday tasks it took to run the huge corporation. There was abounding confusion due to the office renovation, which caused carpenters, electricians and various types of other construction workers to be in everybody’s way.

Except Patty Osborn. She was buried with work in her small temporary office. Open law books, files and supplies were scattered across her desk and floor. She had had to remind Chris Adams of the samples of Rick Senior’ handwriting, and he had finally deliver her a stack of hand-written document that Rick Senior had authored.

She also had on hand several handwritten notes by her ex-boss, B. Wendell Hormel. She was now comparing the samples of each to the list Chris had stolen from B. Wendell’s law office—the one which was a list of Rick Senior’s assets, the same one which B. Wendell had added “Pic-Ric Products” to the end of it.

After several comparisons, it had been much less difficult than she had imagined to see that Chris was correct, that the last item on the list was forged. However, she knew that she would need written opinions from certified experts, and she knew exactly who to call. She opened the thick address book she had accumulated during the years spent in the employ of B. Wendell Hormel. Within minutes she had appointments with two separate handwriting experts the next day.

Patty made two photocopies of the documents, which she planned to leave with the experts, after allowing them to examine the originals. She also had a plan of action when she received the subsequent reports from the experts.

Later on that same day, a little after four p.m., Ray McKinley used his secure phone to call Judge Hollis Garrett.

“Hello, Ray. My, my, you boys sure do work fast,” the judge said.

“I beg your pardon, judge?”

The judge cleared his throat and said, “Mister Roland James, of a certain law firm I won’t mention, paid me a visit at the courthouse today. You may inform your boss that all is well.”

“He withdrew the suit?” Ray asked breathlessly.

“Yes, it’s as if it never existed,” Judge Garrett informed him.

The following Friday morning, over at the Dees, Dees and McGarriety law firm, Roland James had called another staff meeting. During the wee hours before dawn, he had lain sleeplessly in bed formulating his plan. Now he was putting it into action.

Once everyone was seated around the conference table Roland addressed them in a weak and slightly trembling voice,

“Good morning. I called this unscheduled meeting to make a very important announcement. Yesterday, from my doctor, I received the results of a recent physical, which has resulted in a strong recommendation from him that I take some time off. It seems that my blood pressure and cholesterol levels are dangerously high, elevated to a point where I need medication as well as peace and quiet. Consequently, I will be taking an extended and lengthy medical leave, three months to be exact, beginning today.”

Next he explained how he would be allocating all of the current files to each of them. Then he spent a brief amount of time with each of his associates reviewing the details of their respective files; after which he informed the receptionist that he would not be taking any more phone calls.

A short time later as he was cleaning out his desk, his secretary entered his office with two documents. One was the memo he had written to the other partners in the law firm, and the other was the list of files with the assigned associate’s name adjacent to each. As she placed them on his desk she asked that he please initial his approval on each.

Roland quickly scanned them and replied, “They’re fine, please print and distribute them.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. “There is just one thing—I noticed that the Pic Ric Products file isn’t on the list.”

Panic stricken, Roland gave instructions that if and when they called to please inform them that he had taken their file with him, and that it was being taken care of.

(tmdunagan@aol.com)